Feed hopper



Patented July 1, 1947` UNITED s'rA'rEs NT' OFFICE FEED novena of Illinois 'Application september 14, 194i, saisine. 554,087

The present invention relates generally to feed hoppers and more particularly to hoppers for feeding kernels of l grain into a mill of the type which prepares the grain for feed for livestock, such as hammer mills or the like. The principal object of the invention relates to the provision of a novel and improved means for controlling the flow of grain fromY the hopper into the-mill.

Hoppers of this type are provided with an inclined door or bottom which slopes downwardly toward a feed opening at one end-ofthe hopper,

the slope of the floor being sufficient to cause they grain to flow through the opening to the mill. A

4vertically shiftable gate governs the' size of the opening and hence controls the rate of feed of the kernels from the hopper. Heretoiore, iced hoppers of this type have required some attention .to maintain a, constant iiow vof kernels through 'the comparatively small opening, due to the tendency of the kernels to wedge together and become lodged at the opening.

It is an object of my invention to provide means for-so controlling the flow of grainvthat this dim..u culty is eliminated. In the accomplishment of this objectl haveprovided .a baiiieplate in the hopperspacedfrom the gnteorithe purpose of retarding thenowof grain. to A,prevent the pressure of ltl'ie1inass1-oiI'kei'nelsfin. the hopper from acting directly-f against fthe kernels passing through the opening. .With this pressure Aremoved, the tendency for the kernels to jam or lodge in the opening is substantially eliminated.

These and other objects and advantages oi my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following description in which reference is made to the drawings appended hereto, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a hopper having feeding control means embodying the principles of my invention; 1

Figure 2 is an elevational view takenin section along a line 2--2 in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view oi the hopper.

Referring now to the drawings, the hopper 5 comprises a floor plate t and a pair of converging side walls i which extend into the intake passage t of a feed mill and lare rigidly secured thereto by bolts il. The floor plate E inclines downwardly toward the intake passage 8 at an angle Sumcient to cause grain to flow by gravity toward the passage il.

The inner end of the hopper at the intake passage 8 is closed by an end wall in the form of a vertically slidable plate i0, which is provided with a small aperture Il in the center of the bottom g'r-i'iifding ears of com, the plate edge. I*This aperture is closed by a gate i2, which liesflat against the plate i inside the hopper and isshiftable vertically relative thereto to open and close the aperture ii. The plate i0 is provided with an upper supporting portion i3, the top of which is bent over to serve as awhandle i4. A vertical slot i in the upper portion i3 receives a securing bolt i6, which is mounted on an angular bracket i1 fixed' to the top'of the mill intake passage 8 by a bolt i8.

Likewise, the gate i2 has an upper supporting portion 2t, the top edge of which` saturned to form a handle 2i. The upper portionjis slotted ver tically at 22 to receive the bolt it.` A wing nut 234m the threaded end of the bolt i6 serves to 'clampthe gate i2 and plate it' tothe bracket il in vertically adjusted position. vWhen feeding hay, cornstalks,

etats-the mili,

`the plate it and gate i2 are; removed to make available the entire intake passage, but when and gate are secured by the bolt it in partly raised position to i .provide an opening tlf'n'erebeneathy sufficient to kallow ears to pass. -Howe'ven whenkernels of in the'hiri'the plate fgatlef. i2 is held in raised-position to. uncover the '.g'rairropening i ifinthegate iii. 30 l In order to prevent the grain from packing or lodging inthe opening ti, a baille plate 2t is pro vided in the hopper E spaced in iront of the opening ii. The baffle is in the form of a plate bent into a il-shape with the apex upright in front of the opening and the laterally opposite i side portions 26 inclined inwardly of the hopper at opposite sidesof the opening ii, respectively,

for retarding the flow of grain toward the open` ward the gate, the upper portion of the bracket lying flat against the gate and having a vertical slot 28 adapted to receive the bolt i6. When the baille is in use, the wing nut 23 clamps the bracket 21 and the upper portions 2B, i3 of the gate and plate firmly together and to the supporting bracket i1. When a. faster rate of feed of grain to the opening ii is desired, the wing nut 23 is loosened to permit the gate l2 and the baffle 25 3 to be adjusted upwardly, either independently or simultaneously.

,I claim:

1. In a feed hopper of the type including an end Wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain'into a hammer mill or the like, a generally vertical baille plate disposed in front of said feed opening in said hopper and having bracket means for supporting said plate, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening.

2. in a feed hopper of the type including an end wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or the like, a generally 'll-shaped baille plate mounted on said hopper with its apex upright in front of said feed opening, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening.

3. In a feed hopper of the type including an end,wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or the like, a generally vertical baille plate disposed in front of said feed opening in said hopper, bracket supporting means for said plate, means for mounting said bracket means on said end wall providing for vertical adjustment of said plate relative to said hopper, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening.

e. ln a .feed hopper of the type including an end wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or the like. a vertically shiftable gate for controlling the flow of grain from said hopper through said opening, a generally vertical baille plate disposed in said hopper and spaced inwardly from said gate, a pair of vertically slotted supporting brackets for said gate and said plate, respectively, and a sup port therefor including an adjustable bolt adapted to receive said slotted brackets, said plate acting to retard the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening.

5. ln a feed hopper of the type including an end wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or the like, a vertically shiftable gate for controlling the flow of grain from said hopper through said opening, a generally V-shaped baille plate disposed in said hopper with its apex upright and spaced inwardly from said gate, a pair of vertically, slotted supporting brackets for said gate and said plate, respectively, and a support therefor including an adjustable bolt adapted to receive said slotted brackets, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of Said hopper away rom said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening.

6. 'in a feed hopper including bottom and side walls, one of said walls having an opening for releasing ilowable material from the hopper, a

generally V-shaped baille ilxedly disposed in said' hopper adjacent said opening to block the ow of the main body of material directly into said opening but spaced from the latter to permit flow of material from each side into the opening, said baille having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening and terminating in spaced relation to the side walls of said hopper to permit material to ilow around the side portions of said baille toward said opening.

7. In a feed hopper including side walls and an inclined bottom wall, one of said side walls having an opening near the bottom for releasing flowable material from the hopper, a generally V-shaped baille 'plate ilxedly disposed in said hopper with its apex upright in front of said opening to block the flow of material directly into said opening but spaced from the latter to permit flow ofA material from laterally opposite sides of the opening through the latter, said baille having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening and terminating in spaced relation to the side walls of said hopper to permit material to flow around the side portions of said baille toward said opening.

8. In a feed hopper of the type including an end wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or the like, a generally vertical baille plate disposed in front of said feed opening in said hopper for blocking flow from the main body of grain in the hopper directly into the opening but spaced therefrom to permit grain to flow from each side into said opening and having bracket means for supporting said y' plate, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening, said side portions terminating in spaced relation to the sides of said hopper to permit ilow of grain around the ends of said side portions.

9. In a feed hopper of the type including an end wall having a feed opening for feeding kernels of grain into a hammer mill or Ythe like, a generally vertical baille plate disposed in front of said feed opening in said hopper for blocking flow from the main body of grain in the hopper directly into the opening but spaced therefrom to permit grain to flow from each side into said opening, bracket supporting means for said plate, means for mounting said bracket means on said end wall providing for vertical adjustment of said plate relativeto said hopper, said plate having laterally opposite side portions inclined inwardly of said hopper away from said opening for retarding the flow of grain to prevent it from becoming lodged in said opening but terminating in spaced relation to the sides of said hopper to permit flow of grain around the ends of said side portions.

' HENRY E. KORUM.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Taylor July 12, 1938 Number 

